Wire-tying machine



Feb. 24, 1931*. J. L.. VAUGHN WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Oct. l. 1928 5Sheets-Sheet l ...ifa

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John L. Vall Feb. 24, 1931. J, L VAUGHN 1,791r,21r`3I WIRE TYING MACHINEFiled Oct. l. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 24, 1931.

J. L. VAUGHN WIRE TYING MAQHINE- Filed Got. l, 1928 J0/27Z l. Vaag/272gj @Wwfmwm 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 24, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT4OFFICE JOHN L. VAUGHN, or creano, ILLINOis, AssIeNOn To THE onnRAnncomzPANxlNo., or omcAoo, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE WIRE-TYINGMACHINE Application med october 1, 192s. serial No. 309,396.

The present invention pertains to automatic wire tying machines of thetype in which the wire is tensioned, twisted and cut in successiveoperations. y

One Object of the invention is to provide a machine of the typedescribed whichwill effect a predetermined number of twists in the wireupon one throw of the hand lever but may be so operated with the leveras to effect as many additional twists as desired before the cuttingtakes place.

Another object is to provide such a machine in which the movement of thehand lever in causing the tensioning, twisting and cutting operations isreduced to a minimum.

Still another object is to provide such a machine in which the handlever, which causes the tensioning to take place when moved in onedirection and the twisting to take place when moved in the oppositedirection, is relieved of all resistance from the tensioning mechanismafter the wire has been tensioned and is being twisted.

Still another object is to' provide such a machine in which the cutterblades are pivoted in front of the line of cut and sheer toward the rearends of the slots in the holding okes.

y Still another object is toI provide such a machine in which theholding yokes are shiftable toward and away from each other to shortenthe twist when ne wire is used and are readily removable withoutdisturbing the cutters to permit replacement with yokes having narrowerslots for the wire.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be evident to those skilledin the upon a :full understanding of the construction, a1'- rangementand operation of the imprcved wire tying machine.

One form of the invention is presented herein for the purpose ofexemplification, but it will of course be a kpreciated that theinvention is susceptible o embodiment in other 45 structurally modifiedforms coming equally within the comprehensive scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a wire tying machine embodymg the severalfeatures of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a"vertical section, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a vertical Sectio line 6--6 of Fig. 2; and i Fig. 7 is aplanview of the wire twist produced by the machine.

The machine shown in the drawings includes a wire tensioning mechanism,a wire twisting mechanism and -a wire cuttting mechanism, whichinstrumentalities are operated in the order mentioned by the manipu-klation of a single hand lever. .In the starting position of the machine,the hand lever is in the forwardly oblique position shown. Vhen the handlever is swung rearwardly from that position, the tensioning mechanismfunctions, and, when it is swung forwardly from its rearmost position,irst the twisting mechanism, and then the cutting mechanism, functions.

The hand lever consists 'of two side arms 10 which are connectedat.their outer ends by a handle 11 and are secured at their inner endsto a shaft 12 which is journaled in two spaced bearing brackets 13'attached to a iiat generally rectangular base plate 14. The hand leveris limited in both its forward movement and its rearward movement bylugs 15 on the inner ends of the arms 10 which engage with front andrear stops 16 on the brackets 13.

The tensioning mechanism consists of two rearwardly converging shafts 17which are journaled in bearing brackets 18 attached to taken on, the

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jacent the front ends of the same, and carry springs 23 which pressagainst arms 24 which are pivoted to and extend downwardly from thefront ends of the shafts. The arm 24 on the left side of the machinecarries an arc-- shaped wire guiding block 25 which is concentric withrespect to the axis of the shaft on which the arm is pivoted and isprovided with a notch 26 into which one end of the.

wire to be tensioned is hooked after being reversely bent to fit thenotch. The arm 24 on the right side of the machine carries a similarlyshaped and arranged wire guiding block 27, and also carries aspring-pressed wire gripping cam 28 which acts on the other end of thewire against a lip 29 on the arm and is provided with a finger piece 30.

When the tensioning shafts 17 are rotated by the means above described,the lower' ends of the resiliently yieldable arms 24 to which the endsof the wire are fastened move away from each other and place the loop ofwireencircling the object to be tied under tension, the amount of whichtension is determined by the resistance to compression of the springs23. When the hand lever, in being swung rearwardly to tension the wire,reaches its rearmost position, projections 31 on the lower ends of thearms 19 ride behind shoulders 32 on rearwardly spring pressed latches 33which are pivoted at 34 to the base plate 14, whereupon the arms 19 areheld against return movement and the cams 21 are relieved from thepressure of the rollers 20. After the twisting operation has beencompleted and the cutting operation is being performed,

which occurs when the hand lever approaches its foremost position, studs35 on the inner ends of the arms 10 engage with slides 36 which arepivoted at 37 to the inner ends of the latches 33 and retract theshoulders 32 on the latches out of engagement with the projections 31 onthe arms 19. The shafts 17,

after being released in the manner just described,are returned to theirnormal positions again by springs 38, being controlled in their returnmovement by supplemental cams 39 on the inner ends of the arms 10 whichengage with the rollers 20 and allow the shafts 17 to reach their normalpositions only when the hand lever has been swung upwardly after thecutting operation into its normal forwardly oblique position.

The twisting mechanism consists of a radially slotted twisting pinion 40'through which the ends of the wire to be twisted extend in lappedrelation. The pinion isprovided with slotted end trunnions 41 which arejournaled in slotted bearing members 42, and the bearing members aredetachably secured to the base plate 14 at the center of the front ofthe same. Two slotted wire holding yokes 43 are detachably secured tothe base plate 14 at opposite sides of the bearing members. The yokes 43prevent the lapped ends of the wire from turning beyond those pointsduring rotation of the twisting pinion, and may be shifted toward oraway from the pinion to vary the closeness of the twist in the wire tothe extent desired, being secured to the base plate by screws 44 whichextend downwardly through apertures 45 which are elongated in thedirection of adjustment. The pinion 40 is rotated by a gear 46 which isjournaled on the shaft 12 and is rotated in one direction when the handlever is swung forwardly by an outwardly spring-pressed pawl 47 which ispivoted at 48 to an arm 49 secured to the shaft 12 and engages with anyone of several studs 5() on one side of the gear.' The gear is preventedfrom rotating in the opposite direction by means of aninwardly'spring-pressed pawl 51 which is pivoted at 52 to a bracket 53attached to the base plate and engages with any one of the studs 50.When the hand lever is swung from its rearmost position to its foremostposition,

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two complete twists are imparted to the over- ,A

lapped ends of the wire by the twisting pinion. If three or morecomplete twists are desired, it is merely necessary to swing the handlever rearwardly and then-forwardly again before it has reached itsfully forward or cutting position on the first stroke,`where upon eitherone or two additional twists may be imparted on the second strokedepending upon the extent to which the hand lever is swung rearwardlybefore being swung forwardly. I

The cutting mechanism consists of two stationary blades 54 which areattached to and project forwardly from the brackets 13-into positionsalongside the yoke's 43, and two upwardly spring-pressed blades 55 whichare pivoted at their front ends to the sides of the front ends of -theblades 54 and extend rear wardly at an upward inclination between'theblades 54 and the stationary guides 56 attached to the blades 54. Theblades 54 are slotted beneath the lower edges of the blades 55 inregister with `the slots in the yokes 43 and receive the lapped ends ofthe wire extending through the yokes. The lower edge of the blade 55 atthe left side of the machine is so shaped as to cut only the rearmoststrand of wire, while the lower edge of the blade 55 at the right sideof the machine is so shaped as to cut only the front strand of wire. Atthe completion of the twisting operation, the

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/ 1,194,a rr' rear ends of the blades are depressed by lugs 57 on theinner ends of the arms l0 and the ends of the wire fastened to thetensioning arms 24 are cut ofi', producing a finished twist such as thatshown in Fig. 7. The pivotal connections between the blades 54 and 55consist of bolts 58 which, because of their accessible positions, may beconveniently tightened .or loosened to adjust the sheering action of theblades.

The operation of the machine, briefly summarized, is as follows:

The machine is placedv upon the box or other object to be bound withwire, and the hand lever, if not already in the forwardly obliqueposition shown in the drawings, is swung into that position to place thevarious mec,1 -.anisms in their normal positions. One end of the wire tobe tied is hooked into the notch 26 in the wire guiding block 25 at theleft side of the machine and is passed under such block through thealigned slots in the cutting blades 54, the holding yokes 43 and thetwisting pinion 40. From the slot-s the wire is passed around theobject, back through the slots again, and then under the wire guidingblock 27 at the right side of the machine intoengagement with thegripping cam 28. The machine is then held firmly by a convenientlyarranged handle 59 attached to the left side of the base plate 14, andthe hand lever is swung into its rearmost position, causing theoverlapped ends of the wire to be drawn in opposite directions toproperly tensionthe loop of wire about the object. lVhen the hand leverreaches its rearmost position,the latches 33 interlock with theprojections 31 on the arms 19 to hold the tension on thewire and relievethe cams 21 on the inner ends of the arm 10 from further duty. The handlever, being then free from the resistance offered by the tensioningmechanism, is swung forwardly, and the pawl 47, which assumes the dottedline position shown in Fig. 5 in the rearmost position of the handlever, engages with one of the studs 50 on the gear 46, rotates thegear, and causes the pinion 40 to impart two complete twists to theoverlapped wire portions between the yokes 43. The twisting operation iscompleted just before the hand lever reaches its foremost position, and,when the hand lever is swung through the last part of its forwardmovement, the lugs 57 on the inner ends of the arms 10 depress thereal.l ends of the blades 55 and sever the excess portions of the wirefastened to the tensioning arms 24. The last part of the forwardmovement of the hand lever, in addition to effecting the cuttingoperation, brings the studs 35 on the inner ends of the arms 10 intoengagement with the slides 36 connected with the latches 33, causing thelatches to release the projections 31 on the arms 19 and allow the arms24 to return to their normal positions. Should more than two completetwists be desired in the wire, it is merely necessary to swing the handlever back again after the twisting operation and before the cuttingoperation, whereupon one or more additional twists may be made inthewire before the hand lever is swung into its foremost position to effectthe cutting operation.

I claim:

l. In a wire tying machine, a wire twisting pinion, means for rotatingthe pinion, and two wire holding okes which are arranged at oppositeends of, the pinion and are shiftable toward or away from the pinionwhereby to vary the closeness of the twist.

2. In awire tying-machine, a wire twisting pinion, means for rotatingthe pinion, two wire cutting blades which are arranged at opposite endsof the pinion, and two wire holding yokes which are positioned'alongsidethe blades and may be readily removed without disturbing the blades.

3. In a wire tying machine, a tensioning mechanism, a twlstlngmechanism, a cutting mechanism, and a smgle hand lever for operating allof said mechanisms, said lever extending obliquely forward in the normalposition o the various mechanisms and being movable first rearwardly andthen forwardly to effect the tensioning, twisting and cuttingoperations.

4. In a wire tying machine, a twisting mechanism, a cutting mechanism, ahand lever for o erating said mechanisms, and connec- I tions etween thehand lever and said mechanisms which cause the twisting mechanism tooperate when the lever is moved through one angle and the cuttingmechanism to operate when the lever is moved through another angle andwhich permit the lever tobe moved two or more times through the first ortwisting angle before being moved through the cutting angle, whereby toimpart as many twists as desired to the wire. y

5. In a wire tying machine, a frame, a wire twisting pinion, means forrotating the pinion, two wire cutting blades which are arilo ranged atopposite ends of the pinion and v are pivotally mounted at their frontends to the frame to sheer rearwardly, and means for moving the blades.

6. In a wire tying machine, a slotted wire twisting pinion, two slottedwire holding yokes at opposite ends of the pinion, two shafts atopposite sides of the yokes, means for rotating the shafts in oppositedirections,`

a single hand lever movable in one direction -to operate` the tensioningmechanism and the hand lever of resistance from such mechanism duringthe subsequent operation ofl the twisting mechanism In testimony whereofI have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN L. VAUGHN.

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